Tuesday, 11 September 2012

11th anniversary of 9/11

When this post is published, it will be exactly eleven years to the minute
that the first aircraft hit the World Trade Center in New York. The
events of what is now referred to as 9/11 are only too well known.

My thoughts are with all victims, whether identified afterwards, or not. In New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

My thoughts are with the passengers and crew on the four flights
destroyed. My thoughts are with the victims killed in the World Trade
Center. My thoughts are with those emergency workers who lost their
lives trying to save others'.

My thoughts today are with the families of those who perpetrated these
atrocities, for they lost too. Even before the events of September
2001, they lost their loved ones to a delusion of hate that is not of
the religion they claimed to be faithful to. Hatred leads to
destruction - as shown seven years ago. Forgiveness is a pillar of
Christian faith, as it is one of the Islamic faith. Whether those that
lost a loved one in 9/11 can find it in themselves to forgive is beyond
my scope.

But first and foremost, my thoughts are with Norberto Hernandez, whose
tribute I first filed on Northern Trip, the predecessor to Atlantic
Lines, in 2006. The searches for Norberto on Google are contaminated
with references to the Falling Man, who was in fact another victim,
Jonathan Briley. This confusion has led to much anger and anguish,
something the families of both men could do well without.

Norberto, rest in peace.

This entry, as stated above is dedicated to the memory of

Norberto was a pastry chef from Elmhurst, working in the restaurant
Windows on the World on the 106th and 107th floor of the North Tower of
the World Trade Center in New York. After the attacks, he was reported
missing for a week until parts of a torso and an arm were found in a
collapsed stairwell. DNA testing and finger printing reveiled that
these were the remains of Norberto. It also invalidated claims that the
image of the Falling Man was that of Norberto; this was another victim
of 9/11 who will be the subject of a different tribute.

At the time of the attacks on the WTC, Norberto was aged 42 and had
been married for 25 years. He was the fourth of ten children by his
parents’ marriage, and also had six half-siblings through his father.
His parents separated when he was young. Norberto himself had three
daughters, three grandchildren and 37 nephews. He was a man of Puerto
Rican origins, and had hoped to spend his final days there. Instead,
after 9/11, a funeral service was held and his remains cremated in
Puerto Rico.

His sister Luz described Norberto. “He was quiet, kind”, she said. “He
was a handsome man. Everybody loved him, you know. Everybody.”
Norberto’s nickname was Bible, as he was very dependable. Together
Forever was his motto.

Norberto started work in Windows on the World at the age of 17, washing
dishes. He was interested in cooking, so a manager paid for his
tuition at cooking school. Norberto became pastry chef and worked up to
10 hours a day. His sister Luz said that he made cakes, desserts,
cookies and bread. His cakes were fabulous.

Outside work, Norberto loved sports, and was a fan of a Puerto Rican
boxer, Felix Trinidad Jr. Four days before the attacks, he rang his
mother and asked her to play “I would cry but I have no more tears”
four times.

In the immediate aftermath of the plane striking the North Tower,
Norberto called his sister Luz. “He said: ‘Yeah, don’t worry, I’m
OK”.They were disconnected, and when Luz tried to call back she could
not get through. Other accounts from Windows on the World tell that
smoke and dust filled the restaurant after the strike, and that people
lay on the floor to escape the worst of it. Air was beginning to run
out at the time of the last contact.

These are the facts that I have managed to pull together from the Internet.

From the little that I have learned of Norberto, he came through as a
gentle giant. Although 6’2” (1.84m) tall, he was always listening, and
talked later. His family suffered a double loss, as Claribel Hernandez
(his sister-in-law), a secretary working elsewhere in the North Tower,
was also killed in the attacks. Norberto was close in the family and
responsible, which earned him the nickname Bible. He loved his work, and
by the look of one of the images, loved to impart that knowledge to
others around him.

September 11th, 2001, dawned as a brilliantly sunny morning in New
York. Two planes were flown into the two towers of the World Trade
Center, leading to their collapse within 2 hours. The destruction of so
many lives was brought about by mindless hatred and madness, fuelled
by religious zealotry which was not based on any writing in any
scriptures in any religion.

Norberto may have heard of that on news reports, but it was probably
quite far from him. He was a man that lived for his family, always
there for them. A diligent worker, putting in up to 10 hours a day,
loving his creations from the oven. Travelling to the WTC on the Subway
every morning, his thoughts were probably far from what was to happen
not that much later on that fateful Tuesday.

Two thousand nine hundred and ninety-six are known to have died that
day, or in its immediate aftermath. Norberto’s ashes were scattered in
his homeland of Puerto Rico. His memory lives on in his family, and in
the memory of those that read this. He is deeply missed by those close
to him.

I have attempted to contact the University of Columbia to use the
material in this link, but have not received a reply. As it is central
to the tribute, I have used it, and acknowledge the writer, Sarah
Clemence.